The Buddy System (Education Variation 01)
by Lucifer Rosemaunt
Summary: Short ficlet variations on a theme: education/school. Finding a buddy has never been easy for Erik. Modern!AU, high school!AU, liberties taken with their ages. ErikRaoul slash


Title: The Buddy System (Education Variation 01)  
><span>Author<span>: Lucifer Rosemaunt

Summary: Short ficlet variations on a theme: education/school. Finding a buddy has never been easy for Erik.  
><span>Fandom<span>: Phantom of the Opera  
><span>Pairing(s)Character(s): Erik/Raoul pre-slash; Philippe, Christine and Meg mentioned in passing  
>Warning(s): modern!AU, high school!AU, liberties taken with their respective ages<br>Word Count: 1,793  
><span>Rating<span>: K+

o.o.o.o

Erik suffered through the noisy and crowded bus in silence mostly because he knew it could have been worse. Not only had he managed to avoid having to share a bench with anyone else, which was a feat considering every other seat was taken, but he was also currently on the same bus as Christine. His seat was several rows from the back where he could easily keep her in sight.

For once though, she was not the reason he had looked forward to coming to school. Today was their annual field trip, and it was actually somewhere worthwhile. It was not the zoo – and the only highlight in that trip had been seeing the monkeys jump at the cage and frighten Carlotta bad enough that she had fainted. It was not the state fair – because spending time outdoors with sugar- and fried food-laden classmates had not been Erik's idea of either fun or educational, although they had all learned that Piangi could and would eat anything fried that was offered to him. It was also thankfully not the recycling plant – scrap yard was more like it, and hadn't that annoyed those managers when everyone kept calling it that.

No, they were finally going somewhere that had merit, the Museum of Fine Arts, eight floors and entire football fields of sculptures and paintings, dioramas and relics. For an entire day, instead of listening to his stupid teachers drone on and on about something Erik could teach himself over one weekend, he would be able to surround himself with true geniuses and their masterpieces.

It should have been perfect; the morning started out that way. The weather had been pleasant when he walked to school. He had managed to avoid speaking to anyone on the way to his locker, and he had managed to get on the same bus as Christine. It had all fallen into place rather nicely, up until the point when the music director, Mr. Reyer, who was the teacher in charge of their bus group announced that they would be using the buddy system. They were sixteen years old; the buddy system would only mean that two people instead of one would go missing. His announcement was met with a resounding groan, but the responding clamour that was loud enough to make him wince meant that everyone was already resigned to their fate.

He alone had remained perfectly quiet, avoiding everyone else's gaze, not that anyone would be looking towards him to partner up. He did wonder if he would be able to get out of having to have a buddy, but knowing his luck, he would be saddled with a teacher. Then again, he scanned the bus, there was one teacher who he would not mind being stuck with, Mrs. Giry. She knew how to leave him to his own devices and often allowed him to hide in the studio during lunch periods despite the rule about not being allowed to bring food there. Mrs. Giry was not on this bus however, despite her daughter's presence, and Erik's gaze was immediately drawn towards Christine. She and Meg were pressed close together, hardly taking up the entire bench as they talked; it was obvious that they would be partners. As he glanced at each row though, _everyone_ seemed to have shuffled and found a buddy already.

He did not want to think about why he was not grateful for his solitude. He was too old to be bothered by such things as not having friends; it was just the hassle he was not looking forward to of course.

When the buses pulled up to the large brick structure, Erik hated that he was more worried about having to find a buddy than excited to be there. He stayed in his seat in order to be the last person to step off the bus, giving Mr. Reyer the barest of acknowledgements when the old man checked him off his clipboard and handed him a sheet outlining the meeting times and tasks to be accomplished before they left the museum. Erik immediately moved to the edge of their gaggle while the few teachers and chaperones assigned to their group tried to maintain some semblance order despite being severely outnumbered.

Erik only paid the barest of attention as Mr. Reyer went over the meet-up times, opting instead to read the paper. There were several short opinion-based essays, questions regarding artist names, and a section requiring a duplication of one's favorite work. He slipped the sheet into his sketchbook and stared longingly at the large building, dreading the moment he would have to admit not having found someone with whom to pair. It would not be a surprise to anyone, but all eyes would turn to him. In those moments, Erik could always distinctly feel the presence of his mask and would have to stifle the urge to injure the nearest person to him. That never particularly ended well. He scowled, hands clenching on his book.

A hand on his arm made him jerk, arm flinging outward. His elbow connected solidly to a body with enough force that his sketchbook fell out of his hands. The body that ended up hunched forward gingerly reached out to pick the book up and when he stood, Erik was left staring at a short blond who he only recognized in passing as the new kid. He knew a little more only because the new kid not only knew _Christine_, but he also became popular rather quickly – money, Erik assumed. And his looks, he amended as he took a moment to study his features, but he had yet to hear any stories of his escapades or any parties he might have thrown as was commonplace in their high school with the other popular students.

The other boy looked sheepish, quite contrary to what Erik had expected. His hair was an awkward length since it kept falling in front of his face, but it did little to hide his delicate features, bright blue eyes, pale skin, and the gentle curve of his cheeks. He held the sketchbook out and Erik forced himself to stare at that instead of his classmate.

"Sorry about that," Raoul said, placing a hand on his stomach where Erik had inadvertently hit him, and Erik tried not to glare at the boy for apologizing for being the person that had gotten hit. He had learned a long time ago not to be apologetic for other people's shortcomings, but he could not voice his displeasure since the new kid continued, "Erik, right?"

Erik nodded mutely and realized he was not only still scowling but also staring at the other boy's lips. When he took the sketchbook, he averted his eyes once more and tried to school his features into something more neutral. There must have been some sort of discernible change because the other boy did not immediately run away.

"I'm Raoul," he said cheerfully, seemingly undeterred by his expression or the lack of response. "The snobby, new rich kid." Erik could hear the air quotes in his introduction, and the smile when he said it actually reached his eyes. Apparently, Raoul had no problems making fun of himself.

And, Erik tried to determine if he was really that confident or just stupid. He did not have time to decipher it since he was distracted by Raoul ducking his head. Clutching a small notebook in one hand, Raoul reached up with the other to rub the nape of his neck, and Erik realized that Raoul was actually wearing both the vest and tie that was optional for their uniform. The dark, navy blue vest offset the maroon tie and white collared button-down. Unlike some of the other people who decided to wear the full uniform, Raoul made it look elegant without even trying. His tie was slightly askew though and Erik's fingers twitched in the need to fix it.

"I ended up sitting with my brother on the bus," Raoul said as he glanced over his shoulder. Erik followed his gaze to a boy who did not look old enough to be considered a chaperone, but he was talking with Sorelli about something that made the dance teacher giggle. Raoul muttered, "How embarrassing is that, right?" He did not wait for an answer before saying, "I didn't have a chance to ask around and I hate having to wade through everyone to find that unlucky other person and you were just standing here and I was wondering if you had a buddy."

Erik looked into blue eyes and tried not to let his eyes wander again, and it was easier this time because he had been prey to several of these pranks before. "No one wants to buddy with you?" he scoffed. "I doubt it. Don't think you'll be able prove anything with this stunt," he snapped.

Raoul dropped the hand from his neck, brow furrowed in obvious confusion. "I don't… I'm not sure what I'm proving?" he said slowly. Frowning, he shook his head. "Uh, I'm sorry to have bothered you," he said before walking away.

Cursing under his breath, Erik immediately felt like a jerk at the hurt expression and really, he should not care that he had managed to drive the new kid away. Despite his better judgment though, he grabbed the back of Raoul's vest to stop him from leaving. He did not know if he could trust the other boy not to be like everyone else. "I don't have a buddy," Erik admitted. But for some reason, he wanted to, even while he hated how this new kid could surprise him and how Raoul's eyes never lingered on his mask. He especially hated how when Raoul turned around to give him a pleased smile, his heart may have skipped a beat.

"Yeah," Erik muttered before shutting his mouth because what else was there to say. He turned to look at Mr. Reyer as the man tried to yell over everyone else.

Raoul nodded, confirming it, "Buddies then." Instead of pushing for more conversation like Erik expected he would, he turned as well, actually paying attention to what their teacher was saying. Their arms would brush every once in a while since it seemed that Raoul was unable to stand still for very long and had a tendency to tug at the bottom of his vest. Erik found he did not mind the intermittent contact. His eyes stared forward, unfocused as he tried to watch the blond from the periphery of his vision.

And when Mr. Reyer asked for those without buddies to raise their hands, he met Raoul's eyes briefly and actually had to struggle not to grin back at him.

o.o.o.o

End ficlet

A/N: I actually always hated the buddy system. It was better than having a chaperone though and moving as a huge group. That was always annoying. Okay, new variation set (already! D:) and we'll see if we make it within the seven days. I couldn't think of a Christmas variation so I'm apparently going to try to do a Christmas fic separately. :( Life is hard. Also, Raoul in uniform. XD

Fic Review: Raoul spends the entire time looking over Erik's shoulder (no concept of personal space at all because he practically leans on him) in order to watch him draw, asking so many questions that it should annoy Erik by being so distracting but it surprisingly doesn't. He likes the warmth of Raoul against his side even though it constrains his movement somewhat, and only when Raoul does leave to do his own work, answering the worksheet and trying to draw his own paintings, does it become a distraction; Erik's attention cannot help but be drawn towards him. On top of that, instead of being weirded out whenever he catches Erik watching him from across a hall, Raoul just smiles really wide and raises his arm as high as he can to wave at him. It's possibly the best deterrent there is because Erik gets embarrassed by the attention but still can't bring himself to be mad at Raoul (because no one should be that pleased to see him). (There's also Philippe in the background, but let's leave that alone.)


End file.
